My Ending and Beginning
by princesslissie13
Summary: Haley Whitley once had a normal life. Where she went wrong was her boyfriend, Brett. She escaped from his clutches, out into the cold night, and finds herself thrown into the arms of a new family. Better than it sounds, I'm just bad at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**I didn't feel like writing for my other story today, and this great idea popped into my head, so I had to write it down! And yes, I was watching CSI before this, so I was in kind of an adventure mood. Anyways, enjoy! I also really like getting reviews, so do that too! **

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephanie Meyer, except for the idea, which is ALL MINE BABY!**

I shuddered against the extreme rawness and cold that had consumed my body. It was so . When I exhaled, I could see my own breath, coming out in little wisps of smoke. My hands were already numb from the wind, cold, and snow beating down on me. I'm sure my nose was red and my face was chapped from the wind. But I had to stay where I was. Someone would find me. Someone would notice me missing and look for me.

When I woke up, the snow had covered my legs and was still falling from the sky. All of a sudden, excruciating pain radiated up from my legs. They were frostbitten, and dying. I realized that I couldn't feel my face or my hands. I was afraid to look and see what was wrong, but I did anyway. My fingers were blue and had ice on the fingernails. When I say blue, I don't mean a little blue. I mean, like, navy blue. I shuddered to think what my face looked like right now. I thought back to what had gotten me into this mess.

"_Don't shoot. They'll know it was you. They'll find you, and kill you too." My voice shook in pure terror. I could very well be dead by morning. I could hear him loading bullets into his gun. The little clicks echoed in my ears, over and over. Why was this happening to me? Why not someone else? Had I done something wrong? Was my karma really that bad to have something this awful happening to me? _

_The maniac was a student at the school. He had gotten me alone, when I was gathering my things and the teacher was out of the room, with the excuse that we had to 'talk'. He was my ex boyfriend. We had been going steady for about two months, then he started getting… weird. He had been too pushy, trying to get me to kiss him, touching me in places that shouldn't be touched… I was getting tired and creeped out by his odd behavior. He was not the same guy that I had known all along. Something had changed inside him. I have no idea what that may have been, but I didn't like it. So, I ended our relationship. He didn't handle it well. He shouted at me, saying that I would be begging for him back, and he would not let me. He called me names, and a swear popped out of his mouth every two seconds. I cut him off in the middle of his rant and left him. I was not going to try to deal with him, knowing that it would only make things worse. Brett and I were no more. I was now staring down the barrel of a gun that he was pointing at my face. _

_I looked into his eyes for any sing of forgiveness, any hint of kindness. All I found was cold, bitter hatred. And determination. 'No. this is not going to happen to me. I will not let it end like this. I am not done here yet. He will not finish me off, this way. On this night.' those same words bounced around in my head like jumping beans. I would not quit. I took a deep, steady breath, and braced myself for everything that could possibly happen to me. I had to get out of here. Somehow. I looked at the desk next to me and saw an X-acto knife. An idea popped into my head. Morbid, but would ensure me enough time to get to the door. A crash echoed outside. He turned his body away from me for a second. I grabbed the tiny knife and gripped it tight. Thrusting my arm forward aggressively, I shoved the blade into his back, between the shoulder blades. He screamed in agony and fell to the ground, not in death, but in pain. But it looked like death to me. I gasped at what I had done. Then he turned his head to me, eyes open and blazing in anger. I ran for the door._

_Sliding out into the hallway, I ran for my locker, and grabbed my cell and my coat. then was when I heard the footsteps behind me. I took off, running out into the woods that surrounded the school. I couldn't hear him behind me, but I ran anyway. The snow was not nearly as deep as it was in the fields, so I had no problem running. I don't know how long I ran, but it was dark by the time I stopped. 'Shoot. Where the heck am I?' I looked up at the dark sky, and saw the moon. It was shining brightly at me, casting a pale light on the land below it._

_Putting my fingers in my pockets, I felt the cold smoothness of my cell phone. I sighed in relief, and opened it up. I looked at the screen._

_It said I had no bars. None at all. It felt like someone had dropped a rock in my stomach. I began the tremble. Whether it was from the cold, of from sheer terror, I do not know. All I knew was that I was lost, cold, and hungry, and with someone who wanted to kill me that kept me rooted to my spot in fear._

_I remembered that my mother had always told me when I was a little kid to never leave the area when I was lost. So I stayed put, sitting down on a rock that had not been snowed on. I thought of moving around to get a signal, but the thought was unappealing to me. I would get more lost trying to get reception then if I just stayed where I was. Also, I was freezing cold, and was only wearing jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and boots. The coat I had was nice, but it would not keep me warm through the negative temperatures that it was sure to plummet to overnight._

_Remembering I show I had seen on the discover channel about mountain climbers that had gotten stuck on mount Everest, I searched the area for a clump of snow. I found on nearby. I began to dig a hole that I could put myself into to shield myself from the wind, and to help insulate myself, too. Once that was done, my fingers were really cold. I climbed into the hole and curled up in it. I pulled my arms out of their sleeves and close to my chest, which was radiating with heat._

This was where I was now. Cold, hungry, and frostbitten. I thought of my family. Hannah, my sister, would be worried and scared. She would be wondering where I was, and why I wasn't home yet. Hayden, the youngest of us three rug rats, would be crying and saying over and over "Where's sissy? Where is she?". Mom and Dada would be scared silly, and if I ever were to get out of this mess, I would wither get yelled at, or fussed over endlessly. It felt like there was a lump in my throat. My eyes watered, but I blinked back the tears that were coming on. I knew the tears would freeze on my face, and that wouldn't help anything.

I blacked out again. When I woke, I was delirious. I don't even remember what I thought about in that time, but it was so crazy, that I remember the sane part of my brain saying that I was going insane.

I heard a soft rustling sound nearby. My body tensed. I stilled all movements, straining to hear and identify what the sound was. I heard the sound again. This time closer. It sounded like cloth rubbing against itself. Then an intake of breath. I felt like I was dreaming; maybe I was.

"Edward. Look. It's a girl." a voice that sounded female said. Another rustling sound, which was startlingly closer than the last. I could feel a soft wind, which, at the moment I hadn't realized was cold breath. "Alice, she's… she's alive." He ended with amazement.

"Where's Carlisle? Is he with us?" Edward said with an urgency.

"We have to get her warm. Soon." Another voice sounded, again scaring me because of the proximity to me. I couldn't even hear them moving around, other than the first brush of fabric.

"Carlisle." Edward said in relief. "Are you sure? She's almost dead, probably unconscious." He said doubtfully. I could hear Carlisle bend down, close to my face. "Can you hear me? If you can, make some sign that you are aware." He said calmly to me.

I could hear him, but moving at all was physically impossible at the moment. My voice felt dead, so speaking was out of the question. I stayed silent. Carlisle bent down closer to my chest, listening for a heartbeat. "Well, she's alive. But just barely." He declared. He picked my up in his arms, which were cold. I wasn't aware enough to notice that he wasn't wearing a coat, or a hat, or anything to protect him from the elements. I also didn't notice that his arms were hard as rock. Another key thing that I didn't pick up on was that he was moving incredibly fast for a human. Faster than a car on a highway.

The last thing I remembered was hearing the others agreeing to stay and 'hunt'. he said it would be "safer that way.". I blacked out. Little did I know, when I woke up, I would be a completely different person. Or rather, a vampire.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I am liking this story much more than my other one. It's more fun to write, and I feel more… passionate about this one than I felt for the other one. I'm still going to write the other story, but it won't be updated as often as this one. You may notice that I have Carlisle talk about him being a vampire, and you probably already know all of the stuff I'm saying, but I thought that it would be a good place to start this chapter. So, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: You know, these are so stupid. No one would be able to get away with saying Twilight was all their idea because it's so widely known that someone, somewhere would know who Stephanie Meyer was and correct the idea stealer. But anyway… I do not own Twilight. (sigh)**

**Carlisle POV**

The girl that I held in my arms was… well, she was a sight. Her fingers definitely had severe frostbite on them, as well as her face, which was slightly blue and a little swollen. Her hair was frozen to her head, and parts of the ends had ice hanging off like icicles hanging off a roof. Her breathing was slow and uneven, like she could just stop any second. I wondered what had happened to her so she wound up in the middle of the woods on a night like this. She was just so young. She looked about fifteen to me, but I wasn't sure, because the only thing I was judging her on was she size. I expected she was a pretty girl, but again, I wasn't sure because of her bulging face.

I tried to move as quickly as I could, but at the same time, I was trying to keep her as warm as possible. The journey home wasn't a short one (by human standards, that is) and it took about five minutes of running at top speed to get to the warmth of the house. No one was home, as expected and preferred. They were all out hunting, and I wanted them away from the house so that they wouldn't be tempted by her.

Our vampire lifestyle wasn't easy, in fact, it got very difficult at times, but we managed, and managed in a way that was healthy to our community, also. We were "Vegetarian Vampires" and did not feed ourselves by drinking the blood of humans. We were all humans once, and knew that it would not only be disgusting to us mentally, but that it would also cause us to be moving more than was already needed. We had to constantly change our location due to the fact that our physical appearance did not change. We were frozen in time, really. We also had to choose where we settled wisely. Sunny, populated places were not a good choice.

I thought back to right before I had left to take her to safety. I had told the group of them to find as much information on this girl as they could. I needed to know so I could… destroy the evidence. It wasn't right, but it had to be done to save us. People would think something was wrong if, all of a sudden, someone went missing without any clue as to where they went, or what had happened.

All of the lights in the house were off, and the doors were locked. I looked down at the girl again as I walked through the house quickly, flipping on lights as I went. The only bed that we had in the house was in the basement, due to the fact that we didn't sleep. Laying her down on it gently, I assessed her condition one last time to make sure that I was making the right decision. Her pulse was so slow that it scared me. Her breathing was shallow and labored; I could tell that she was fighting to stay alive. Her fingers would most likely have to be amputated, and her face would look different than it had been before she had been out in the woods. She was probably almost starved to death, as well. The amount of time that it would take of being out in the cold to look as bad as she did was too long for her not to be hungry.

'_This poor girl. She'll be waking up in a different place than she fell asleep in. She doesn't even look like a legal adult, only fifteen or so. I just hope she'll be happy with her new life. Or rather, existence.' _I leaned down to her ear and whispered to her. "I'm going to make it all better for you, I promise. You can trust me. I promise that the pain will go away." I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the blood.

I bit as gently at her neck as I could. Biting her skin felt like biting on butter. As soon as I broke skin, blood erupted, spilling in my mouth and on my clothes. I kept holding my breath. I tried to ignore the burn in the back of my throat that urged me to keep going. It was getting harder to control myself. Soon, I began to think about how nice her blood felt on my tongue, how good it tasted. My common sense interrupted my bliss. _'Stop, now. Pull away, or you'll kill her.'_

I pulled away from her, rather reluctantly. I noticed there was blood in my mouth, and that I was still holding my breath. I hurried to the nearest sink, afraid to leave her alone for too long. Looking in the mirror hanging over it, I could see that the blood had soaked through my shirt and was running down my stomach. I spit out the blood and ran the sink, pouring some bleach down with it, to dilute the smell.

A piercing scream erupted from the room she was in. Hurrying down the hall to her, I noticed that there was a small trail of blood where I had walked to the bathroom. She was really a bleeder. Another scream exploded out of the girl, and entering the room, I could see her chest rise and fall rapidly with each scream. Her screams were not quiet things. They burst out from her chest like a bomb, and you could feel the sound waves vibrating in the air with each one. I could see the dust in the air being disturbed when she screamed.

I rushed to her side, and took her hand in mine, uttering words of apology and assurance that it would end. I didn't even know if she could hear me, but I felt extreme remorse, changing her when she was so young. Although I felt sorry for her pain, I did not doubt or regret my decision.

Edward and I had many debated over changing humans, when they're on the brink of death, to vampires. He believed that it was an awful thing to do to someone, and that anyone would prefer death to what we were. He also believed that we had no souls or opportunity at heaven. My beliefs were different than his. I felt obligated to save a dying person in any way that I could, should I stumble upon one. I also believed that we could go somewhere after this life. I didn't know then, and I still don't know now where we would go, but I am certain that we go somewhere.

Her screams continued. For every cry, I would try to soothe her. At several points, I thought that she could hear me, for she would stop yelling to hear me talking. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, and, most of the time, I didn't think that she was conscious.

As the hours passed, I watched her transform to a vampire. Her fingers turned back to a healthy color, and her face was healing as well. Small pimples that she had on her nose and forehead vanished, seeming to sink back into her skin, almost. Other small facial imperfections disappeared as well, such as yellow spots on her teeth. Her body was transforming as well. It looked like all the fat on her body was simply falling off. She didn't look anorexic by the time that she was almost completely changed. She looked strong, actually. Even with her eyes closed, her face had a fierce quality about it. She must have been an athletic girl, because without the little bit of fat that she had had before to cover up her muscles, every little movement she made was exaggerated by the tensing and relaxing of her brawn.

By this point in time, I had been in the house with her for about two and a half days. I refused to go anywhere away from her, fearing that she would wake up and not know where she was. Edward had stopped in a few times, just to check on how things were doing. He couldn't stay long, however, because it got hard for him after about five minutes of being near her. This time, though, it was not Edward who came. It was Bella.

"Carlisle." He greeted me as he strode into the room.

"Bella." I said, relieved to see someone. No one had stopped by in a while, and the only company I had was the girl's screams.

"We found some information on her," She nodded her head towards where she was laying, quiet for the first time in over an hour. She continued, "her name is Haley Whitley. She is fourteen years old, and has a little brother and a little sister. And…" Bella stopped, letting the sentence hang in the air. "And…" I prompted her, a little aggravated.

"Well, she had an abusive boyfriend. It's crazy, I know, to have an abusive boyfriend that young, but I heard her parents talking about it. They are worried sick about her, Carlisle. They think that the boyfriend, Brett, had something to do with it. And frankly, I do too." Bella concluded.

"Why do you think he was involved. It was us that… took her in." Carlisle said, confused.

"No, no. I mean, I think he was the reason why she was in the woods. Maybe she got scared and… ran away." Bella clarified, looking down at her shoe as it was scuffing the floor. She looked up at me. I could tell by the way she looked at me that she was nervous and upset. I walked to her and put a hand on she shoulder. "It'll all be just fine. Don't worry about this. We'll handle everything." I said, trying to comfort her.

"I'm not worried about covering ourselves up. We're good at that. What I am worried about is her. She's so… young. She hasn't even lived yet. She'll be stuck like this forever." Bella breathed, trying not to disturb Haley.

Another bloodcurdling scream erupted from Haley's mouth. Bella jumped, surprised at how loud she was. "I know. I will not be able to hear anything for days after this." I said to her, not needing to speak over Haley, because she could hear me. She grinned at me. "I had better get going. Good luck with her." She said. No sooner than the words had popped out of her mouth, she was gone, probably because of the smell of blood. I sighed and sat back down on the chair that I had placed by her bed. Taking her hand, I talked to her, thankful to have a name to call her by.

All of the clan was creating "evidence" to make it look like she was murdered. They stopped by often, to see the new vampire. They were still not living in the house. They were staying in a nearby hotel, forced out of the house by the odor of the blood that had been on Haley, and that still remained in her system.

Over the next day and a half, Haley's screams decreased significantly. I could sense that there her veins were starting to burn up. Her "changing" was almost done. I began to get nervous, for she wasn't waking up, and it had been about four days since she had been bitten. Halfway through the fifth day, she started to "awaken". She was coming out of the haze of pain that she had been in for the past days.

She was starting to fidget slightly, still unconscious. Her fingers were reaching out in the air, trying to find mine. Her other fist was clenching and unclenching. I put my fingers in hers. She stopped twitching around and laid still. Her knees and arms locked. Her heart was racing, and her hand gripped mine so tightly that I feared that it would fall off. Muscles in her face were twitching, as though unsure whether to scream or not.

Then, her heart stopped.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you liked last chapter from Carlisle's point of view! This chapter is the same events that happened in the last one, but from Haley's point of view. Please review! It will make my day, even if it's a flame.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Don't sue me!**

I was burning. On fire. The pain was radiating from my neck. It pulsed and throbbed, like a bad cut, only much worse. So much worse. I could taste the blood in my mouth.

I felt like I was dying. Maybe I was already dead. Maybe I was burning in hell, like the Bible says will happen to bad people. What did I do that was so bad to receive this kind of torture? I couldn't tell if I was awake or asleep. All I knew was that the pain was so bad that it lasted through my unconsciousness. I couldn't move anything. When I did, the pain seemed stir up and intensify. It was like nothing else I had experienced.

My body felt hot. Too hot. I was sweating. This was hotter than any fever I had ever had. Something wet had soaked through the collar of my shirt, and it was sticking to me. I didn't like it. I wanted it off. Now. My throat felt dry, like I had ran twenty miles in the Sahara desert. All I could even attempt to think about was the burning. It was centered around my heart., and spreading fast. It was beating wildly out of control.

I was having trouble getting enough air in my lungs. It felt like there was too much fluid in them, like something was clogging them up. It was so uncomfortable. _'Great. Now they match the rest of my body in pain.'_

The pain was now spreading to my shoulders and thighs. They felt like they were on fire. I had no control of my body. I was screaming. I felt the sound ringing in my ears. I had forgotten how loud I was. But none of that mattered, compared to the searing that covered me like a blanket that was on fire. Every cell was stinging me.

Something was touching my hand. It was cold and hard, but it moved on its own. I moved my fingers around the object, to try and figure out what it was. A hand. But why was it so cold? To me, it felt like that hand had been in a freezer for a couple of hours.

I think I felt relieved that there was someone there with me. Maybe I was in a hospital. They had found me! I would be all right. I was safe, and my family was here. Their faces swirled into my mind. Then I lost them. They left me. _'Come back. Come back. I need you here with me. Don't go. Please…' _My thoughts were slurred and disorganized. I couldn't focus on anything.

The pain I was feeling at the moment was so much different than the pain I had felt before. Then, I had felt numb and cold. Now, I felt like every cell in my body was on fire.

By now, the fire had spread to my arms and legs. It hurt so bad. I couldn't open my eyes, for I didn't want to see my body at the moment. I imagined that it was on fire, and that I was turning dark, charring from the heat. I couldn't believe that I was still alive, somehow.

The burning was blinding, and I often wished for death to come. I wanted to have my mother there with me. I wanted her to stroke the side of my face like she always did when I was sick or injured, to try to comfort me. I wanted someone to tell me that it was just a dream, and that I would wake up soon. But the intense pain was so strong through out my whole body that I doubted that it was an illusion.

By now, my whole body had been consumed in the fire. I couldn't focus enough on anything, not even enough to form a fragment of a thought. All I knew was the burning that had consumed my entire body in a flame of intense pain.

I felt like I had a really bad fever still. I could feel my shirt sticking to my back, and I hated it. I also felt lightheaded and dizzy. My head was spinning like I had gotten off a tilt-a-whirl, or something.

After I had been in this blaze for years, it seemed like, the pain faded, slowly, from my fingertips and toes. They had been on fire for so long that they felt cold. Like the hand that I was still holding on to. I was still in pain everywhere but my fingers and toes, and the pain had seemed to compensate for where it wasn't by intensifying in my heart.

Another century later and the burning had disappeared from my ankles and wrists. But, the fire had gotten more fierce in my veins and arteries, as well as in my heart. The pain was no longer on the surface of my skin, but now it was inside my body. Contained, now, it seemed so much more uncomfortable than it had been before.

As slowly that the pain was moving, I was grateful for its' disappearance. Another millennia later and the pain was gone from all parts of my arms and legs. It was so concentrated on my core that I feared that I would explode or something violent like that. As the pain migrated from my limbs to the center of my torso, my heart rate accelerated. Perspiration was building up on my forehead. My breathing sped up. I ripped my hand out of the one that was holding mine and gripped the side of the thing I was laying on. This pain was so real and forceful and blinding. More than it had been before. It was impossible for it to get worse than this.

Then it stopped. Just went away. Gone. I waited for a relapse, an aftershock, but there was none. Everything was so still and quiet in me, no burning or throbbing like there was before. For the first few seconds, I didn't know who I was, or what had happened to me. I was disoriented and confused. Then the memories came back to me suddenly, hitting me full force, like a semi truck smashing a minivan. I remembered everything about myself. It only took me a fraction of a second to realize all of this, which was weird. No one could think that fast. I tried to mentally solve a few math problems, like I always had trouble with. To challenge myself, I had a full equation planned out

But something was wrong. I was laying in a different place than I had blacked out in. it was comfortable where I was, not bitterly cold like it had been when I had lost consciousness.

I felt different. Newer, and refreshed, like I had just woken up from a long nap. After a minute of thinking, I realized that I hadn't breathed in over a minute. I inhaled deeply, expecting the feeling of relief from my lungs. It never came. Maybe I had died, and I was in heaven. Or hell. I opened my eyes for the first time since I had been freezing to death.

Something was off. Way off. I could see every little particle of dust floating around in the room I was in in perfect clarity. Considering that I had 20/40 vision, I was shocked. Normally, I would be lucky if I could see what the teacher had written on the white board at school.

I didn't realize it at the moment, but from that moment on, my life would be forever changed by the mysterious man that had carried me to shelter, and ultimately, saved my life.

**That one took me a long time to write… and yes, I know that I used a couple of words excessively. I had to look up lots of stuff on , that's for sure! I hope you liked it, and I hope you will review and stuff! Please check my profile, also! I have a poll up there that I need people to vote on!**

**Oh btw… right now it is 6:25 and it is pitch black at my house! Just had to put that put there because like every two seconds when I was writing this I thought that I needed to get to bed because it's dark outside. Gosh….**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I know that not all of my readers have an account on here, but come on! Two people voted in my poll! TWO! I really need more people to vote before I can do a decent chapter! Where this story will go depends on YOU GUYS! So please, before I go stark raving mad, VOTE IN THE POLL! I have posted the same quiz on three different sites, and only two people voted. That's pretty pathetic! On the other hand….**

**This story is getting pretty dramatic, huh? Well, I hope you guys love drama, because this one's going to be very… emotional. Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, don't use me. I mean sue me!** **Typing with your left hand is hard!**

She opened her eyes. They were brilliantly red, like two rubies. Her eyes were filled with wonder and confusion. I felt sad that she didn't know where she was or wheat she was doing or who had taken her. She hadn't noticed me by her side yet, probably because I had been sitting motionless for over an hour.

My hand twitched inside hers. She felt that tiny movement, and was caught off guard by it. I could see the fierce, yet panicked look in her eyes as they snapped to mine. In less than half a second, she was in a crouch, baring her teeth and hissing slightly. Her eyes were still locked with mine. An animalistic instinct seemed to have taken over her.

I held up my hands, palms out to her, displaying to her that I meant no harm. As soon as I made the gesture of peace, she looked shocked at what she had just been doing. She eased herself out of her crouch quickly, looking almost embarrassed by herself because she had gotten defensive.

"My name is Carlisle. I promise that I won't hurt you." I said in a soothing tone. Her face looked absolutely horrified, like how a child's face gets if you tell them that Christmas was cancelled. She didn't say anything. The silence stretched from seconds to minutes.

Finally, she responded. "What happened to me?"

Those four little words were the ones that I had least expected. I had been thinking that her mind would have been on where she was, and why she was there. Or, I had expected her questions to be about her family and where they were. I had not expected her to jump to the conclusion that something about her was different so quickly. I locked eyes with her. She looked at me in wonder. _What is she staring at? Me?_ I thought. She was really concentrating on my face, like if she looked away I would be gone.

"Your name is Haley, right? How old are you?" I asked, trying to steer her off the subject for the moment.

"Yeah. My name is Haley. And I'm fourteen years old." She said softly, still staring at my face intently.

"You're only fourteen? That's pretty young." I said, still trying to stall.

"Yeah, I guess so. By some standards, though, I'm old. My little brother calls me an old fart all the time." She said fondly, grinning a bit. "But, Carlisle… what happened to me? And, how did I get here? I fell asleep outside. Now I'm inside. And I wasn't wearing this-" she gestured to herself, "-when I went out, either. In fact… these aren't even mine. What's going on?" She was angry now. She was probably irritated because I wasn't giving her any answers. I decided that I should answer her questions, and do it fast.

"Haley, before I explain this to you, you need to understand something. You were dying. I did what I did to save your life. And in a way, I did save you." I paused, letting her mull that over in her mind for a minute. She nodded at me, indicating that I should continue. "My family and I aren't like you and your family. We're different. We are vampires."

There was a long, deadly silent pause. She ran a hand through her brown hair as her brows furrowed. She looked up at me. "You're joking, right? Vampires are not real."

"Yes they are, Haley. They are as real as the floor you're standing on, the walls surrounding us, and the air that fills the space between us. I am one, and so are you." I said with a soft spoken stubbornness that reminded me of Bella.

"I… I don't believe it. I can't be one. I just… can't. I must be dreaming, because there is no way that this can be possible." She stuttered, panic seeping into her voice. She sounded like she would be crying if she still could.

"I know that this is a lot to take in, Haley. I know that it's hard." I said comfortingly as I put a hand on her shoulder. She jerked herself away from me and crouched again, her vampire instincts kicking in again. By the way that she scooted away from me, I could tell that she was not moving voluntarily.

She straightened herself up with a frustrated look on her face. "Why do I keep doing that? It's like I can't control myself!" Haley asked angrily.

"Because you're a vampire, you have some rather… animalistic instincts that you sometimes have no control over. They can kick in when your body senses danger or any potential threat." I explained to her. "There are some other things that come with this new life. You have extremely heightened senses, speed, and strength. In some cases, you can have special abilities that were your main personality trait that you carried on from your human life." I said. Her face went from exasperated to curious.

"Do vampires sleep in coffins?" She asked hesitantly.

"No. nor do we burn in the sun, or die from holy water or a stake to the heart. None of the myths are true except for the fact that we drink blood." I said to her. She looked horrified at the fact that we drank blood.

"Oh my god. Do you kill people just to feed yourselves?" Haley asked, sounding disgusted.

I paused, not sure how to answer her. Would she get even more upset at the fact that some vampires do kill people, but not us? Or would she be upset over the fact that she would be killing in general? The last thing that I wanted was for her to hate herself, knowing that she would have to kill to eat.

"Well… some vampires do kill people to eat. But some vampires, like my family, only kill animals. We try to refrain from drinking the blood of human beings. It is a disgusting concept to us, seeing as we were once one of them ourselves. But yes, some vampires do kill people to eat." I said uneasily. She looked slightly less ruffled, knowing that I did not kill humans.

"Oh. Well… that's still disgusting." She said defiantly, tipping her chin up slightly.

"I agree. When I first was changed, I tried to kill myself because of what I had become. The thought of slaughtering people, with families and lives and hopes and dreams, was horrific. It seemed like it went against everything I knew."

"How did you know what you were, right off the bat?" Haley asked._ Dang it. I wanted to save this for another time. She caught me, though._ I thought as the words came out of her mouth.

"Well… I was… involved in a certain business that required me to know everything about the creatures that I was pursuing. Among other things, vampires were the main focus of… the group." I said, trying not to give away too much about my past.

"What business? Like, Ghost Hunters, except, you were looking for vampires? You seem like you're totally avoiding my question." She questioned. I was beginning to feel uneasy. From the outside, it looked like she had no fear about myself or what I was.

"I was a witch hunter, but not by choice. I was born in London in the 1600's, and my father was an Anglican pastor. He had me hunt anything that was in relation to, or in potential relation to, the Devil. Although I did come across a real coven of vampires, he considered me a failure, because I was more interested in my studies than the hunting. But I threw myself into the hunt with everything I had, all to please my father. It never really worked out." I said. She looked slightly mesmerized by my stories of my youth.

"Oh, Carlisle… I… I really don't know what to say. I thought that you were going to say that you went and hunted yourself." Laughter broke through her serious tone. Soon, we were both chuckling over her silliness. Abruptly, she stopped laughing and fingered her throat.

"Owww. Why does my throat feel like it's burning?" She asked me.

"That's because you're thirsty. I hope you don't have some issues with hunting animals, because that's how you'll be feeding yourself." I said to her, a gentle mocking tone in my voice.

"No. I really don't care. If it will take care of the loin clawing at my throat, I'll be good for a while." She said

"Only for a while, huh? Does this mean that we will have to find ways to keep you occupied? You don't really seem like the patient type." I joked. She grinned broadly.

" I hope I'm not too much of a burden to you and your family, then." Her face fell, as though she remembered something that meant a lot to her. "When will I get to see _my_ family? Will I ever get to?" Haley asked, intense pain coloring her tone.

"You will, but you will need to take some time to… train yourself. It is almost impossible for a newborn vampire to resist from killing once he smells blood. In time, however, you will learn to shut off that instinct. Once you have developed that skill, you will be able to see your family." I said to her soothingly, for she looked like she was about to cry.

"I know, Haley. I am sorry that you have had this brought upon you at such a young age. It really is my fault." I said, grieving for her as I put an arm around her shoulders tentatively. She did not try to shove me off, like Rosalie and Edward would have done. She did twitch slightly, but I was sure that was a reflex.

"No, no. Don't be sorry. I would rather not have died on that night. I would be extremely frustrated with myself. Brett will not have been the death of me. He was not worth it." She said as she sniffled out of habit. She looked so miserable that it hurt me.

"Now, come on!" I exclaimed, trying to motivate her. "Let's hunt! It'll be fun!" I called as a grabbed her by the hand and tugged her up the stairs. There was something about her, something that made me feel so much younger and more alive. She made me feel… better. Like she had healed my wounds that had been on my shoulders for so long. Not in a romantic way though. Like, she was the daughter I never had a chance to have.

She laughed at my enthusiasm. "Okay, crazy. Let's get going." I yanked her out the door and listened as it slammed behind us. I was eager to show her how to hunt, and teach her about my past life, and the history of vampires. I was eager to get to know the girl that seemed to hold so many secrets and wounds.


End file.
